Quiz: Alcohol Myths and Facts

Which of the following is a benefit of moderate and heavy drinking?

Which of the following is a benefit of moderate and heavy drinking?

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Correct Answer:

There are no benefits to heavy drinking. It causes you to put on weight, lessens your mental focus, and makes you more likely to get cancer. It also boosts your odds of injury by accident or violence. One way or another, it plays a part in some 88,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

How many drinks per week make a woman a "heavy drinker?"

How many drinks per week make a woman a "heavy drinker?"

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Correct Answer:

Toss back more than 3 drinks on any single day or more than 7 a week and you could be labeled a heavy drinker. The numbers for men are higher: 4 drinks a day or more than 14 per week. What’s a drink? Just 0.6 ounces of alcohol -- roughly the amount in 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.

Name a risk of heavy drinking.

Name a risk of heavy drinking.

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There’s a long list of bad things too much alcohol can do to your health. You could be more likely to get diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, and high blood pressure, or have a stroke. Quite a few types of cancer are tied to overdoing it as well. These include mouth, larynx, and esophageal cancers, breast cancer, plus cancers of the liver, gastrointestinal tract, and colon.

Heavy drinking can shrink your brain.

Heavy drinking can shrink your brain.

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Correct Answer:

Long-term heavy drinking can shrink both the overall brain and the size of the brain's cells. The result: problems with learning, memory and problem solving.The longer and harder you drink, the more likely you’ll have trouble with sleep, mood, and motor skills. If you avoid alcohol, you might reverse some of the damage.

A few drinks could be good for your heart.

A few drinks could be good for your heart.

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Correct Answer:

There’s some evidence that a bit of alcohol could make you less likely to get heart disease. It’s possible that alcohol raises levels of "good" cholesterol. However, the key word here is "moderation." Long-term heavy drinking weakens the heart muscle and can contribute to high blood pressure, stroke, and, heart failure.

Middle-aged and older occasional to moderate drinkers will outlive their teetotaler friends.

Middle-aged and older occasional to moderate drinkers will outlive their teetotaler friends.

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Correct Answer:

Doctors aren’t sure why, but once you hit middle age, there’s a link between an occasional drink and staying alive. It could be the protective effects of moderate drinking against heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Alcohol can keep your mind sharp as you age.

Alcohol can keep your mind sharp as you age.

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Correct Answer:

Although researchers caution that more study is needed, evidence suggests that light to moderate drinking in early adult life may help protect against dementia in later life. But the research results have been mixed. Two studies found that only wine had the protective effect while other types of alcohol may in fact increase risk of dementia.

As with other potential benefits, these positive effects are associated only with light or moderate -- but not heavy -- drinking.

How much of all the alcohol Americans drink each year goes during binge drinking sessions?

How much of all the alcohol Americans drink each year goes during binge drinking sessions?

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Correct Answer:

Binge drinkers -- that’s women who have 4 or more drinks on one occasion or men who have 5 -- guzzle down more than half of all the alcohol we drink in the U.S. Binges accounts for 90% of all alcohol use for the under-21 crowd.

Binges are linked to many health problems, from high blood pressure and heart attacks to sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy. Injury, violence, and suicide also go hand-in-hand with bingeing.

Most binge drinkers are alcoholics.

Most binge drinkers are alcoholics.

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Correct Answer:

Most binge drinkers are casual drinkers who sometimes overdo it. This is a type of alcohol abuse, but alcoholism is a disease marked by a strong craving for alcohol, an inability to limit drinking, and continued drinking despite physical, psychological, or interpersonal problems.

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